Valve announces an updated Steam Subscriber Agreement, becoming the latest company to attempt to avoid potential class action lawsuits by prohibiting them as a term of service. Here is their explanation of this:

Weíre also introducing a new dispute resolution process that will benefit you and Valve. Recently, a number of companies have created similar provisions which have generated lots of discussion from customers and communities, and weíve been following these discussions closely. On Steam, whenever a customer is unhappy with any transaction, our first goal is to resolve things as quickly as possible through the normal customer support process. However in those instances in which we can't resolve a dispute, we've outlined a new required process whereby we agree to use arbitration or small claims court to resolve the dispute. In the arbitration process, Valve will reimburse your costs of the arbitration for claims under a certain amount. Reimbursement by Valve is provided regardless of the arbitratorís decision, provided that the arbitrator does not determine the claim to be frivolous or the costs unreasonable.

Most significant to the new dispute resolution terms is that customers may now only bring individual claims, not class action claims. We considered this change very carefully. Itís clear to us that in some situations, class actions have real benefits to customers. In far too many cases however, class actions donít provide any real benefit to users and instead impose unnecessary expense and delay, and are often designed to benefit the class action lawyers who craft and litigate these claims. Class actions like these do not benefit us or our communities. We think this new dispute resolution process is faster and better for you and Valve while avoiding unnecessary costs, and that it will therefore benefit the community as a whole.

Creston wrote on Aug 1, 2012, 13:14:What amazes me is that it bugs you so much. There are people who swear up and down by a particular news channel, too. And there are even actual EA fanboys! I know, it seems impossible, but there are genuinely people out there who say that Origin is literally the best thing to have happened to PC gamers, like, EVER.

The large majority of 'people' on the Internet are morons.

I know. I guess it just stands out because game sites are usually so cynical. Of course perhaps that is one reason people latch on to the few companies that seem better than the rest.

Anyway I also maintain it seems disproportionate on Blues because I tend to come here for a certain kind of debate. I outright mock and make light of most of the "OMG STEAM SUCKS" threads on GOG, until this one.